This is way beyond a lighting issue. The whole thing needs to be remodeled to be safe and healthy. The island isn’t deep enough for safety, and you need an overhead hood to remove the unhealthy cooking byproducts that are contaminating your home and lungs.

We used some pendant lights from Barnlight.com and really like them. Seeing bulbs bothers my eyes, however the ones we picked do have some opening at the top to cast light on the ceiling which we like and does not bother me. They are also available without the opening and they have tons of other styles to choose from.

Very high quality, made in USA.

Lights We Used

I am having difficulty posting a picture due to my slow internet but trying.

Yes, we've tried all kinds of bulbs. I can always give it a shot with the frosted film at least to get a feel for how much light it will emit. Thanks for the tip.

My number one issue with pendant lights is clear glass for task work. I don't know how many times I say it lol. pendant lights like this are decorative. if you want function you need forced downlight. frosted glass will work or white but not clear. The end. Also change all your bulbs to 3500k to take out the yellow hue.

You could do with about 3-4 more recessed lights as well. Here is the other thing, you now have a pendant right over your cooktop, so any steam, grease etc is going straight up into the fixture. this is not ideal either. Honestly, I would consider going back to recessed over the island, and then hang one of those pendants over your sink for the "pretty"

Aww I like a warm yellow glow! But I didn't think about keeping window film clean. You do want something cleanable in that location.

Glass pendants over a stove are going to be a nightmare to keep clean. I assume that stovetop has a downdraft? Typically downdrafts aren't great at containing cooking smoke/grease (because it is sucking down something that wants to drift up). Can you take out the pendant light and put in a hood with lighting? That would solve two problems at once.

Thank you ALL for your comments and suggestions. I questioned the glass pendants, over and over with someone that was helping me with my project and they assured me it would be fine. Should have gone with my gut feeling that glass pendants were not a good idea. At this point, I think we will just go back to recessed lighting. Agree, the downdraft does not do a great job but installing a hood over the top of the island is not an option at this point. We are the 2nd owners of this home and question the builder daily, as to "what were they thinking?"